On Sunday 12th July, churches around Britain will celebrate Sea Sunday and support the work of the Mission to Seafarers. You can find a short video of their work hereSt Nicholas, amongst other things, is the patron saint of sailors and so, here in Studland, we shall have a brief service of hymns, readings and prayers all connected with the sea and seafarers. This will be a relaxed informal service at which we hope everyone will find themselves at home, and not all at sea!
When Augustine came to the British Isles in 597 AD he found an already established Christian presence, particularly on the geographical fringes of the mainland (Ireland, Scotland, Northumbria, Wales and Cornwall). Influenced by missionaries from the Irish Monastic communities, these Christians had developed a particular approach to faith, which we refer to today as “Celtic”. Celtic Christians held a deep love for nature, sensing God’s presence in all things. They saw the world as a place where the divine was intimately woven into the fabric of daily existence, In our service on Sunday 17th May we hope to follow the Celtic example of creating a “thin space”, a bridge between the Earth we inhabit and the Heavens that Christ enters at His ascension. Moving from, ground to horizon and sky, we bless the soil, the fields and the crops. We ask that the risen and ascended Christ would fill all things and ground His work in our hands
Gulnar Eleanor "Guli" Francis-Dehqani, the Bishop of Chelmsford is an Iranian born British citizen. Her wise, compassionate and moving address to the Diocesan Synod on the War in Iran can be found here.
